Fearing to tread
by Gummical
Summary: A young girl discovers how being a pokemon trainer can help her overcome her shyness and help her find her own path in life.
1. Siblings

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

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_A/N: It's been a while since I've written a fic, so I hope you enjoy this new one. The first chapter is only a short one, but I promise there will be longer ones in the future. Please read and review. No flames please. _

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**Chapter One: Siblings**

"I don't want to anymore!"

The words of the fearful 5-year-old were swept away like leaves on the wind as she was pulled along a rubble path towards a large, overgrown hedge.

"Jimmy! Brendy! I said I don't wanna go!" She stopped, jerking her arms and trying to free them from the tight grip of her older twin brothers.

The 7-year-olds turned towards her, both of them scowling. For someone just glancing at them, it was difficult to tell them apart, but there were subtle differences. Jimmy, or James rather, was slightly taller, with lighter sandy –coloured hair, while Brendon was the stockier and more serious of the pair. He also had a scar on his hand where he had fallen off the roof when he was younger. Both had hazel eyes, which were now staring at their younger sister.

"You have to, Lolly," said Brendon in an annoyed voice. "We had to and so do you."

"Yeah, otherwise you won't be a big girl and all the kids at school will laugh at you," James taunted her.

Dirty blonde strands fell in front of the girl's face as she looked down at her sandal-clad feet. She didn't have the nerve to argue with her brothers, and the thought of being the centre of attention and laughter by the other kids at school was possibly more terrifying to the poor girl than her current situation.

"See Brend, I told you she was a pidgey," James said, dropping her arm in disgust. "We're going to pretend not to know you at school tomorrow coz you're such a pidgey."

Brendon glared at his brother. "Don't be such a meany dratini Jimmy, you know what she's like."

He turned to his sister and with a serious, grown-up voice, said, "Lolly, you know it's the rule that you have to touch the ghost lady's door when you're five, otherwise you'll be a big baby forever and ever, and that's a really long time. Everybody has to do it. Jimmy and I both did it, and now you have to too."

Scared, tear-filled light brown eyes met his hazel ones. "Do I really have to go?" she said in a small voice.

Brendon nodded firmly. "Yes, but we are gonna come with you so you won't be so scared, kay?"

James made a harrumphing sound. Brendon turned around and punched his brother hard on the arm. "Stop it Jimmy, we 'romised!"

"Fine! Let's just go and get it over with so that we can go to Sean's house."

The trio crept up to the large hedge near the northern end of the town. Following it around one side, the two boys made sure they were all out of sight from the main road. "'kay, just wriggle through here and run and touch the door and run back. It's really easy," Brendon instructed his sister, pointing at a thin part of the hedge, where numerous snapped branches and small, muddy footprints made it clear this was the entry point of all five-year-olds. "We're gonna watch you from here."

With a last, terrified glance at her brothers, the small girl pushed her way hesitantly through the hedge, twigs catching in her hair and dress, until she was standing on the other side, looking up at the weather-beaten cottage. _Run and then it's all over and I can be a big girl and not a pidgey like Jimmy says and I can go back home and Mummy will make me chocky cake._

With a deep breath and an act which surprised both her and her brothers, she leapt forward, running as fast as her little feet could take her up the creaky stairs until she touched the door. As soon as she felt the merest hint of the wood under her dirt-covered hand, she turned, racing back towards the hedge in fear.

However a slightly raised stair plank was to dash her hopes of making it back to the hedge quickly. With a cry, she tumbled on to the soft grass, skinning both her knees. Trying not to sob, she stood back up again, desperate to just get away from this place.

Looking back towards the hedge to find the hole where she had come in, the little girl let out a high-pitched frightened shriek as what looked like a giant pokeball with eyes rolled in front of her. Startled by the sudden noise, the ball started glowing brighter and brighter. The girl, totally petrified and unable to move, let out another childish scream.

"LIGHT SCREEN!"

A loud booming sound deafened the child and knocked her off her feet. She fell heavily and started crying. She didn't understand what was happening until she saw an old woman bending over her, and then her heart stopped beating.

She'd been caught by the ghost lady.

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_A/N: Oh noes, not the ghost lady! And just for anyone who's worried, no, her name is NOT Lolly. That's her brother's nickname for her. Please review!_


	2. Ghost Lady

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

_A/N: Thanks for the two positive reviews! I did promise a longer chapter this time, and hey! I managed to keep the promise yay! Please continue to read and review. _

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**Chapter 2: Ghost Lady**

The ghost lady looked down at her with piercing blue eyes. Petrified, the girl couldn't move, not even to scream or cry. Instead she stared up hypnotically into those sharp sapphire eyes surrounded by wrinkles. Vaguely she heard her brothers running off, yelling something. "Mum and...going...kill us!"

The sound of her brothers high-tailing it out of there startled the ghost lady, and she turned away, breaking eye contact with the little girl. After a moment a small smile crossed her face creating a ripple of new wrinkles as she looked back down at the small, dirty, tear-streaked face. "There, there pet, it's okay now," she said in a soft, grandmotherly voice. "There's nothing here that will hurt you, including me."

It was obvious the girl didn't believe her. After all, her mother _had_ read her Little Red Riding Hood where the Mightyena dresses up as the grandmother. She started trembling. Maybe the ghost lady would eat her, or maybe turn her into a ghost too!

The ghost lady grew concerned as the little girl in front of her seemed to be scared out of her wits, and moreover, scared of her. As she studied the girl, a thoughtful look crossed the old woman's face. "Now then, how about I go inside and get you a nice drink or a cookie?" she said gently. One of her pinned back grey/white curls came loose, drifting down her cheek. Turning, she slowly moved back inside, not looking back at the pile of clothes and limbs sitting huddled on her lawn.

The little girl was afraid the ghost lady would come straight back, and was too scared to move in case she did. One minute passed. Two. Four. The ghost lady didn't come. In fact, the girl could hear her whistling softly inside the cottage. She looked cautiously over towards the hole in the hedge. Maybe she could make it. She listened hard for the sound of the ghost lady coming, but only heard the whistling and the occasional opening and closing of cupboards.

The girl's fear of the place finally got the better of her, and she suddenly jumped up and made a mad dash to the hedge, wriggling through it, not caring that the branches tore gashes in her light yellow dress. She was free! Sobbing with relief and fright, she ran the whole way home, occasionally tripping in her haste and scraping her hands and knees further.

It was a surprised Abigail who opened the door on her hysterical, dirt-covered, bleeding child.

"Isabella! Sweetie! What on earth?"

She swept the still sobbing child up in her arms and took her into the bathroom to clean her up. In between the hiccoughing sobs, Abigail managed to piece together what had happened as she gently washed the dirt and cuts and covered them with motherly kisses and bandaids. Once Isabella had finally calmed down enough, Abigail took her daughter into the kitchen and gave her a chocolate chip cookie before looking at her with a serious expression. "Isabella, the ghost lady isn't a scary lady, just a little old lady who lives with her pokemon," she said gently. "I know that you were scared, but you and your brothers probably scared her too by going into her garden. It's not very nice to sneak into someone's house like that. I'm very upset that you and your brothers did that."

Isabella looked down at her feet, tears filling her already puffy eyes. "I'm sorry Mummy..." she said in an almost inaudible voice. Her mother gave her a stern look. "I want you to promise me that you won't do that again, not to Mrs Thornbury or any other neighbour, okay?"

Isabella sniffed and nodded. Abigail smiled, knowing her daughter wouldn't do such a silly thing again. "Now, we have to go apologise to Mrs Thornbury for scaring her."

Her words caused Isabella to stiffen in fear. Her mother noticed immediately and put her hands on her hips. "Isabella! Mrs Thornbury will _not_ hurt you or any other children. She is a lovely old dear, and she deserves an apology for you scaring her. I'm going to come with you, and you will see what a sweet lady she is."

Disbelieving every word, Isabella had no choice but to follow her mother back through the town to Mrs Thornbury's ghost house. As they approached the front door of the cottage, Isabella crept behind her mother, clinging and burying her face in her mother's dress in fear. Abigail vainly tried to disentangle herself from her daughter but to no avail. She sighed and rang the doorbell.

A soft "Coming," echoed through fro m the opposite side, and after a few moments the door opened to reveal Mrs Thornbury. A gentle smile spread across her face. "Why, Mrs Whitler, what a pleasant surprise!" she said with a smile, until she espied the small body hidden behind Abigail. "Why, hello there again," she said gently, bending down to be eye level with her previous "intruder". "Are you feeling better now?"

Isabella tightened her grip on her mother and kept her head buried in response. Abigail was appalled at her daughter's behaviour. "Isabella! Mrs Thornbury asked you a question!" When she saw that she would get no response, she sighed. "I'm sorry Mrs Thornbury, but my daughter is extremely shy. We actually came to apologise, didn't we Isabella?" she said, looking down at her daughter.

Nod.

"Isabella, please apologise to Mrs Thornbury."

A tiny, muffled, "I'm sorry Missus Thorn Berry," came from the dress.

"There's no need to apologise," Mrs Thornbury said with a smile. "I'm the one who should apologise. I'm afraid my Voltorb may have scared her when it found her in my garden. Why don't you both come in and we can have some tea? I have a chocolate cake fresh out of the oven."

Abigail smiled at Mrs Thornbury warmly. Her own parents and her husband's lived in different towns, so it was easy to accept the grandmotherly warmth Mrs Thornbury offered. And besides, the old woman had no relatives in this town, as far as Abigail knew, so it would be nice to be able to extend the hand of friendship. "Of course, we'd love to, wouldn't we Isabella?" Apart from a slight tightening of small fists, there was no response. Abigail sighed. "Please forgive my daughter. She appears to have lost her manners."

Mrs Thornbury chuckled. "It's fine. And please, call me Beatrice," she said, stepping aside to let her guests in. Abigail followed her, with some difficulty due to what appeared to be a permanent leg attachment, to the living room. She finally managed to tear Isabella away and sit her on the couch next to her. Isabella sat staring at her shoes, trembling as Mrs Thornbury pottered around the room preparing tea and cake. A plate with chocolate cake was presented to her. Isabella took it with a shaky hand and a "Thank you," in a tiny voice. So far all she knew about Mrs Thornbury was that she had blue eyes, grey/white hair, wrinkles, and black shoes, which she was currently staring at.

Abigail didn't know what to do to make her daughter relax or prove to her that Mrs Thornbury was a nice person.

Mrs Thornbury however had the perfect idea. "Would you like to play with one of my friends?" she asked gently, pulling out a pokeball from one of her light blue cardigan pockets. Startled, Isabella looked up into the kind blue eyes of Mrs Thornbury, who was smiling at her. Without thinking, Isabella nodded, wide-eyed. Her mother covered a smile by taking a sip of her tea.

"Marill, come out dear and play."

A cute blue ball erupted from the pokeball. "Marill!" it said happily. Isabella, forgetting her fear and shyness, broke into a delighted smile. Beatrice winked at Abigail as she sat back down.

Isabella spent a lovely afternoon playing with Mrs Thornbury's Marill as the two adults talked and laughed. Finally Abigail rose, thanking Mrs Thornbury for the tea and calling for Isabella to come say goodbye.

"Goodbye Missus Thorn Berry," Isabella said shyly, looking down at her feet, but this time without fear. "Thank you for letting me play with your Marill." An enchanting smile lit up on Mrs Thornbury's face as she bent down to be face-to-face with Isabella. "Call me Granny B. You can come and visit me and my pokemon at any time. Next time I can show you some of my other pokemon if you like. Right now they're at the Pokemon Centre for a check-up," she said warmly.

Isabella nodded and waved shyly as they walked away. Abigail smiled.

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_A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter (even though it is background building atm). In the next chapter, Isabella will be older, and there will be more pokemon yay!_


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